How do I stop fee pressure and justify my placement fee?
Clients push on fees when they see recruiters as interchangeable. Show what they're paying for.
- Clients ask for lower fees.
- Competitors charge less.
- Should we offer retained searches?
Show the cost of an empty seat and a bad hire, then your results: time to fill, shortlist quality and retention. Offer fee options, such as contingent, retained or container fees, with clear differences in service. Trade any discount for something: exclusivity, volume or faster feedback. Track average fee percentage and walk away from deals that don't fit.
Fee options
| Model | Best for |
|---|---|
| Contingent | Common roles, competitive market |
| Retained | Senior or hard-to-fill roles |
| Container or engaged | Commitment with partial upfront fee |
| Volume rate | Several similar roles |
What to show
- Time to fill compared with their internal process.
- Submittal-to-interview and interview-to-offer ratios.
- 90-day retention and guarantee terms.
How we look at it at ShoutEx
We build proof pages, proposal templates and reporting. Objection content helps with fee pushback.
- Discounts with nothing in return.
- No results data.
- One fee model only.
- Taking every role.
- Cost of vacancy shown.
- Results data.
- Fee options.
- Average fee tracked.
What recruiters and regulators say
Here is what recruiters say.
Speed is part of the value clients pay for.
Read the article →Community summaries describe recurring themes in public threads, not individual posts. Vendor pages describe vendor claims, so test them on your own calls.
Read next
Go deeper in the ShoutEx guides, or check the sources behind this answer.
We'll build proof pages and proposal templates.
Book a call →Follow-up questions
What guarantee period is normal?
It varies. Set one you can stand behind.
Should we publish fees?
Ranges can help qualify clients.
Do retained searches close faster?
Often, because both sides are committed.